Videos to scare illegals

Videos to scare illegals

SINGAPORE (DPA): Passengers aboard ferries between Indonesia and Singapore are being treated to video clips showing illegal immigrants being arrested and handcuffed by Singapore authorities, reports said Friday.

The videos, aimed at scaring illegal immigrants away, also show Singapore officers raiding construction sites and apartments, and combing the jungle for illicit foreign workers.

"They are strict with (illegal) immigrants here. I have to tell my friends back home," the Straits Times quoted Indonesian accountant Hidyat Achmad, 48, as saying after seeing one of the clips.

The 20-minute videos have been shown for the past few weeks on board ferries which run between Singapore and the nearby Indonesian islands of Batam and Bintan.

They are also screened on monitors at Singapore's World Trade Centre and Tanah Merah ferry terminals.

The videos have proved effective in deterring illegal immigrants, Singapore's Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng said in parliament earlier this week. Singapore police arrested 77 illegal immigrants from Indonesia last month, compared to 258 in April.